(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for allocating traffic resources in a multi-beam satellite communication system, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for allocating traffic resources for data traffic control between multi-beams in a multi-beam satellite communication system.
(b) Description of the Related Art
In satellite communication systems, a wave radiated from a satellite to the ground surface is referred to as a beam, and the ground surface irradiated by the beam is referred to as a cell. The satellite communication systems include a single beam satellite communication system in which a satellite uses a single beam, and a multi-beam satellite communication system in which two or more different beams are used. A satellite communication system using multi-beams generally has higher data transmission efficiency than a system using a single beam.
In general, in a satellite communication system using multi-beams, each traffic resource that the satellite transmits to the respective beams is the same. That is, the satellite sends and receives data to and from each cell by using the same transmission algorithm.
However, even when the data transmission rate required for each cell varies, data transmission is done in accordance with the same transmission algorithm. That would cause some situations that transmission resources for a cell requiring a high data transmission rate are not sufficient, whereas, transmission resources are left unused for a cell capable of providing a service with a low data transmission rate.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.